The Basics of Solar Power Systems to Produce Electricity

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Solar Power can work well for most items except large electric appliances (water heater, clothes dryer and electric stove).

The basics of solar power:

Using solar power to produce electricity is not the same as using solar to produce heat.

• Solar thermal power is applied to produce hot fluids or air.
• Photovoltaic power is used to produce electricity.

Photovoltaic Panels

A photovoltaic panel is made of silicon, which becomes charged electrically when subjected to sun light. The more an array is situated off of true south the less the total insulation value.

To obtain electricity, solar panels are directed at south in the northern hemisphere and north in the southern hemisphere at an angle dictated by the geographic location and latitude of where they are to be installed.

The most common output is intended for nominal 12 volts, with an effective output usually up to 17 volts.

The intensity of the Sun’s radiation changes with the hour of the day, time of the year and weather conditions.

How to Calculate Solar Power

To be able to make calculations in planning a system, the total amount of solar radiation energy is expressed in hours of full sunlight per m².

One hour of full sun provides 1 kWh/m² (the solar energy received in one hour on a cloudless summer day on a one-square meter surface directed towards the sun).

Before establish the size of our solar system we need to set:

• The sunlight levels (insulation values) of our area
• The daily power consumption of our electrical loads.

Insulation, or sunlight intensity is measured in equivalent full sun hours. One hour of maximum, or 100% sunshine received by a solar panel equals one equivalent full sun hour.

For 1 day consider only six hours of equivalent full sun

(Consider reflection due to a high angle of the sun in relationship to your solar array and high angle and the amount of the earth’s atmosphere the light is passing through).

Because of these factors the most productive hours of sunlight are from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Components used to provide solar power

The four primary components for producing electricity using solar power are:

1. A Solar panel Charger
2. A Charge controller (i.e. Brunton Solar Charge Controller)
3. A Battery
4. A Solar Inverter

Solar panels charge the battery (the controller insures proper charging) then the battery provides DC voltage to the inverter that converts the DC voltage to normal AC voltage.

Solar Panels

The output of a solar panel is usually stated in watts. Wattage is determined by:

V (volt) x A (ampere) = W (watt)

i.e. a 60 watt solar panel can (If an average of 6 hours of peak sun per day) produce an average 360 watt hours of power per day.